Inside Out
by kayy christine
Summary: Confusion filled her blue eyes as she gazed at both the love of her life and her best friend, the two brothers who held her entire world in their worn, yet strong hands. Post-Manga. Full summary inside. EdWin, some AlMay.
1. Waiting Game

_Summary: The Promised Day has passed, Father is dead and there are no current threats to the country or it's people. Edward and Alphonse are both whole again, save Ed's left leg. The brothers have been home for a year, giving Edward and Winry the time they needed to admit their feelings for each other and fall in love even more than they already were. The brother's calm lifestyle soon comes to a pause when Edward and Alphonse recieve a letter from Ling Yao, the new Emporer of Xing, and are asked to teach the Xingenese their version of alchemy and in return, Ed and Al will be able to bring back the alchehestry technique that they are wanting to spread throughout Amestris. While the brothers are in Xing, Winry discovers that she is pregnant and is forced to go through the pregnancy and birth of her and Edward's first child without him, albeit, with Edward having no clue that he is a new father. What will happen when the brothers return? How will Ed take the news that he's a father?_  
_

"What do you mean you're leaving?" the blonde mechanic asked, confusion clearly filling her blue eyes as gazed at both the love of her life and her best friend, the two brothers who held her entire world in their worn, yet strong hands.

Winry knew she shouldn't have been surprised and deep down, she was expecting this. Edward wasn't one to sit still for long and it was a given that wherever the elder brother went, the younger was sure to follow.

Still, she was hoping that maybe they were done with all their traveling, the Promised Day was now just a horrible memory shoved in the back of the citizens of Amestris' minds as they pushed forward to rebuild their country into something new. Edward was, of course, all for a bright, new Amestris. He wanted the country to be less dependent on their military and more focused on improving their peacemaking skills.

So, when Edward recieved a summon's letter from the newly appointed Emporer of Xing, Ling Yao, he knew he didn't have to think twice when he mailed his response letter a short week later.

"They want us to teach them our alchemy, Win." Ed was staring down at his shoes, digging his toes into the gravel that made up the walkway to the Rockbell home.

"And if we teach them our alchemy, Ling promised that he would have their best alchehestrists teach us their alchehestry, which is used for medical purposes. If we brought that back here to Amestris and began teaching it to our alchemists here, we could make a big difference in this country and hopefully spread it to the countries around us." Al finished with a sigh when he saw Winry shaking her head weakly.

"You guys have done so much for this country already." she began, unable to look up at them. She didn't want to cry, it was their lives after all, they deserved to do what they wanted to. "Why do you feel like you need to do this? I'm sure Mr. Mustang would be able to find replacements for you and they could teach you the alchehestry when they come back."

"We want to though," Ed finally looked up at Winry and took a step towards her to reach for her hands, taking them in his own. "It's only a year, Winry. We've gone much longer than that without seeing each other before."

"Yea, but things are different now. I actually enjoy having you around." She joked and put on a fake smile. It would definitely be a lot harder without Ed this time around since the two of them have practically been attached at the hip since the brothers came home.

She looked up at him again, his eyes were almost begging for her approval, but she just couldn't give it. She knew she was selfish, but she still wasn't sure that Edward knew just how much their absence, his absence especially, had an effect on her.

"I know you're going no matter what I say." she sighed, forcing another weak smile. Edward smiled back and took her into his arms.

"I won't disappoint you, Winry. You mean to much to me for me to just leave you and let you down. I'll be back."

"We both will be." Al placed a comforting hand on his older brother's shoulder and brought Winry into his own open arms for a hug.

"Promise?"

"Promise." They both nodded.

The tears were coming now and she didn't care about trying to hold them back anymore. Her two best friends were leaving her side once again and like years before, all she could do was watch their backs fade into the distance, going to yet another place where she couldn't follow.

_A year and a half later_

Winry forced her sleep-deprived eyes open and stared up at the dark ceiling of her empty bedroom.

It was raining.

She always hated the rain, the sky would turn an ugly color and the thunder and lightning made her jump no matter how old she became. It always made her want to just curl up in bed and sleep the day away.

She was the type of person who loved the sun, her favorite childhood memories always took place on a bright, sunny day. Like how she, Ed, and Al would chase each other through the rows of corn in Trisha's home grown garden, plucking leaves from the mint plants everytime they passed by the little bunch of bushes and laughing when one of them almost got caught by the other for taking the time to stick the spicy leaf in their mouth.

Another memory she'll never forget is how her parents would always take her on picnics down to the river whenever it was hot and sunny out, just the three of them, and they would always let her swim after lunch to cool down.

She loved how the sun felt on her skin while it warmed her up from being cooped up in the workshop for too long, sketching out new designs for even better automail for Edward.

She loved the sun because his eyes alone could rival the brightness and intensity it held. She always felt like she was looking into his eyes when she would glance up at the sky.

But at the same time, that only made her miss him more.

Another bolt of lightning lit up her room and shortly after, a loud bellow of thunder reverberated throughout the entire house and just seconds later, she heard the startled cries she was expecting, coming from the tiny girl that slept in the room across the hall.

The young mother sighed deeply and dragged herself out of bed, she wasn't mad at her baby, she was overly tired and it was looking like she was going to go another day without a decent night of sleep.

Winry smiled softly when she entered into the pink-painted room and gently lifted her daughter into her arms, hugging her close.

"What's the matter? It's okay, let's go lay in mommy's bed for a while." she said softly, bouncing the baby in her arms for comfort. She paced around her dim lit room for a few more minutes until she sat down on her bed with the sleeping baby still in her arms. Guessing by the amount of light coming through her window, it looked to be around seven. Granny should be up by now, preparing the shop for the day.

Winry let out another sigh when she remembered just how busy this week was looking. One of the local farmers needed repairs on his leg today, with a few other neighbors coming in for upgrades. Her next door neighbor, Old Man Johnson was coming in tomorrow for scheduled maintenance, followed by a few other maintenance appointments. Pitt's dad needed an entirely new leg and she had two new patients coming in near the end of the week.

A lot of her customers that she took care of in Rush Valley started making the journey to Resembool when they needed more than just routine maitenence. Winry had definitely left her mark on the bustling town and she was proud that she had customers throughout Amestris that trusted her and took pride in wearing her work. She really did get the Rockbell name out there and her grandmother could not have been more proud.

She slipped her legs back under the covers and rested her head against the propped pillow. She didn't think she would be able to fall back asleep, so she decided to just sit up in bed until the baby woke up to eat.

Sitting in her empty room like this brought back so many memories, so she really only spent time in here to sleep nowadays. She tried not to think about Ed too much, it hurt and that's all there was to it. She had no idea when they were coming back, they had told her it would be a year and it's been six months longer than that. She didn't want to think something went wrong and they were unable to leave the country. Knowing Edward though, Winry could almost be certain that's what happened.

Her eyes returned to her sleeping daughter cradled in her arms, that's what hurt the most. She was turning a year old in a few weeks and Ed still had no idea he was a father. Winry had tried countless times to send him letters, but most of them were returned to the house and the ones that weren't probably ended up getting lost because she never got a reply from him. Then there was the thought that maybe he did get a letter and he did know about their daughter, maybe he was mad at her and didn't want to come home? She tried to shove that theory out of her mind, Ed wasn't like that and she was sure Al wouldn't let his brother desert his new family. Al wouldn't want to either, she knew he would be proud to be an uncle.

So what was it?

She heard the rain pick up, it was pouring now, she began to wonder if any customers would even bother to come, the rain made all automail patient's docking ports ache and Winry wouldn't blame them if they were unable to make it to their appointments. To be honest, she needed the day off. She felt depressed, tired, and mentally exhausted.

She was tired of waiting for her own storm to pass and for Ed to come home.

She wanted the sunshine to come back into her life.  
_

_A/N: Revised as of 7/21/11. Thanks for reading. :)_


	2. Reunion

_He told her he loved her at Resembool's welcome home festival for him and Al._

_The whole town was there to welcome the brothers home with open arms and Ed couldn't remember a day where he had gotten so many hugs and pats on the back. He would have been more grateful too, if they weren't doing the same to his fragile younger brother. Al had only been back in his body for a short month, which was spent in the hospital until he was strong enough to walk and take care of himself more independently._

_When the greetings were through and their stomachs were filled with all the delicious country cooking, Ed and Al were soon surrounded once again by people eager to hear about Father and the story of their own father, Hohenheim, and how the two had lived for hundreds of years before Father set his plan in motion to use Amestris, the country he formed, to become the perfect being._

_Edward found himself getting antsy when Al was deep into his turn of the storytelling and began looking around. Where was Winry? He hadn't seen her since they showed up together and she'd been out of sight ever since._

_He caught a glimpse of Pinako, talking to some of the older women of the town. She and Winry had already heard the entire story back at the hospital, so he could understand why they wouldn't want to be caught up in the stuffy crowd._

_"She better not be off with that good-for-nothing Pitt." he mumbled to himself, slipping away from the hoard of people and into the outskirts of the festival area. He found her talking to Nelly and few of their other childhood friends. Pitt was there too, laughing animatedly at something Winry must have said which made his blood boil and turn his face red._

_"Winry." he called, she and few of the teenagers looked over his way. "Let's go for a walk or something, I think I ate too much." he laughed a little nervously, hoping it wasn't too obvious that he just wanted her away from Pitt and with him instead!_

_"Yea, sure that's what you wanna do Ed." Pitt laughed tauntingly and the other teens around him joined in with 'yeas and ohs'. Winry just shook her head as she made her way to Edward while he was going off on his childhood rival. He was still yelling when she passed by him and was already on her way down the road alone, until she finally called for Ed and pulled him from his ranting fit._

_"What's wrong? Too many people?" she asked as they started walking down the familiar dirt road._

_"Yea, sorta." he sighed and held his arm out for Winry to link with his, smiling when she accepted and began walking closer to him. "I just wanted to talk to you I guess, I haven't seen you since you got here and we didn't even get to eat together."_

_"Yea, I decided I'd share you tonight." she laughed, squeezing his arm a little tighter._

_He smirked, "Bet you'd love to do that a lot more often, huh?" and squeezed her back just as tight._

_Winry shrugged, "Nah, it kinda made me jealous to tell you the truth. I'm glad you came and found me. I missed you." she finished soft and unsure, hoping she wasn't coming off too strong._

_"I-I missed you too." he said shyly, then stopped her and pulled her to his chest, wrapping his arms around her tight. She did the same and laid her head on his shoulder when she felt her face heating up, Ed had been hugging her a lot like this ever since he came home and it still surprised her whenever he did._

_He didn't know what he was feeling when he decided he couldn't let her go just yet, he held onto her tighter, letting her know he had no intention of freeing her from his arms. He smiled into her hair when he felt her hug him tighter in return and began stroking her back softly and pulling her closer to him with his other hand._

_"Ed?"_

_He was thinking she was going to ask him why he still wouldn't let go of her after a minute or two had passed, but she pulled away from him only enough to where she could look into his eyes._

_Maybe he did know what he was feeling, maybe he was just too scared to finally let himself **feel** after all these years of having to be so guarded. He wanted her safe and it was hard to finally believe that he didn't have to worry about putting her in danger just by being associated with her more than what his enemies thought was necessary._

_Now, there are no more enemies or people to worry about who could harm her._

_He pulled himself from his thoughts and looked deeper into her eyes, he could see it in her too. Maybe she was waiting for him to do more than just come home to her, maybe she was waiting on him to say something first, afraid of being too pushy because she knows him so well and it would probably just worry him if he didn't feel it was the right time yet._

_He didn't know if he could wait any longer now though, he knew he was about to say it and he had a feeling that she was waiting patiently because she knew this too._

_Then it hit him, why wait any longer?_

_He'd come close to admitting his feelings for her multiple times during the past few years, but he stopped himself because he knew that it wasn't the right time, that one day they would have their time and he could finally say it without having to worry about Al or if anyone who's out to get him overhears him bearing his soul to the only girl he's ever loved._

_This had to be that time, the one he knows both of them have been patiently waiting for. There couldn't be a better opportunity than this, his conscious was clear and he truly felt that this was the right thing to do._

_He looked at her again and that was all he needed, right there in front of him, staring back at him with those gorgeous blue eyes that he couldn't help but drown in everytime his own eyes met hers._

_He took a deep breath and let it out, before his mind caught up to his heart and made him re-think everything all over again and cause him to wimp out..._

_he said it._

_"Winry. I l-love you." he whispered, taking her fully into his arms again after seeing her surprised smile. He found himself liking the way the words rolled off his tongue, like it was the easiest thing he ever said and he couldn't be more sure than he possibly was about how good it felt to finally say it. "I love you." he said more confidently this time, smiling as he did so. He could feel tears forming behind his eyes and tried to fight them off, but then again, why should he care? He didn't need or want to hide any of his feelings towards her anymore._

_"I love you too, Ed." was all the permission he needed to take her face into his hands and kiss her gently. He hated not knowing anything about things like this, so he was still unsure of his actions. Winry just smiled back at him and guided his hands to rest around her waist as she brought her lips close to his again. "You don't have to be nervous, I've been yours since we were little kids."_

_And after that, he sure as hell wasn't nervous anymore._  
_

Lilianne Elric's baby babbles were ringing thoughout the warm, Rockbell home. She was playing with Den, laughing as she chased her around the kitchen, almost knocking Winry over when she caused the dog to run into her leg.

Winry laughed herself and continued stirring the contents in the big pot, adding a pinch of this and a dash of that, whatever spices would make her homemade chicken soup taste just right. She felt it was the perfect meal to make after such a long and dreary day, the rain never let up and it was still raining pretty heavily outside.

Pinako was chopping up carrots and celery, adding handfulls of the mixed vegetables here and there, humming an old tune to try and brighten the mood in the house. She knew the grief her granddaughter was going through, she understood what it was like to raise a child on your own due to her late husband's early passing.

"It's finished." Winry placed the lid on the pot and turned to her daughter who was trying to climb on old Den's back while she was resting on the floor. "Come here, Lily!" she tried to sound excited while she coaxed her daughter into her arms to wash her hands and place her into her highchair. She ladled out a small amount of soup for the girl and then some for herself and sat down at the table with Pinako following shortly after.

The "after-dinner-routine" consisted of a little more playtime, then a bath, story time, then Winry or Pinako would quietly sing the small girl to sleep. Lily loved to be rocked in her mother or great-grandmother's arms, so whenever she was having a hard time falling asleep, the Rockbell women were happy to hold her a bit longer before laying the baby down in her crib for the night.

Once Lily was tucked in and asleep, Winry took advantage of the brief break from the rain and went out to take Den for a walk and some fresh air before she went up to her room and passed out for the night. She hasn't slept well at all since Ed and Al left, she worried about them all the time and she was constantly stressing over the fact that Edward was the father of an almost one year old daughter without knowing.

Thinking about it some more brought on the all too familiar ache that swelled up in her chest and tied her stomach in knots. She didn't know how Ed would react and that's what scared her the most. What if he's so overwhelmed he runs away? What if he's furious at her for not trying harder to tell him what's been going on? There were so many ifs and Winry was tired of thinking about them. She just wanted him home, so they could move forward together as a family.

All too soon, she felt it start to sprinkle again and whistled for Den as she made her way back to the house.

"More rain, Granny." she sighed, taking her light jacket off and hanging it on the hook on the wall next to the front door. Noticing that her grandmother wasn't around, she went into the next room to find her on the phone, pinching the bridge of her nose like she was fighting off a headache. "Granny?" she tried again and Pinako looked over at her granddaughter and smiled lightly, turning away again to finish talking to the person on the other end.

"She's here now, I'll let you go. Alright, be safe. Bye." But she didn't hang up, holding the receiver in her hands, she looked over at Winry and nodded, "It's him."

Winry's heart almost burst out of her chest as she took the phone into her shaking hands. "H-Hello?"

"Winry." Edward breathed, the want and need to see her coated his words and made her ache to see him herself.

"When are you coming back?" she asked softly, afraid he was calling to tell her he would be gone longer.

"We're back, we just got back into the country. We're getting on a train in about an hour so we should be there early in the morning." Winry smiled, she'd been waiting six months too long to hear that. "I can't wait to see you, I'm so sorry we've been gone this long, I'll have to tell you all about it when I get there. What have you been up to this whole time? Do I have to kick anyone's ass for trying to put some moves on you?"

"No, no. Nothing like that happened, Edward. I have a lot to tell you, too, it's been rough without you. I wish you could've called a few months ago at least to tell me you'd be gone longer than expected." she began twirling the phone cord around her finger, nervousness starting to take over while the thought of their daughter entered her mind.

"I know, I'm sorry about that. I'll tell you everything when we get there." he promised.

"Okay, same here. Tell Al I said hi and you two better make it back here safe."

"Will do. Hey, Win?"

"Yea?"

"I love you." he said sweetly.

"I love you too, Ed." she had missed saying those five words entirely too much.

"You're not gonna sleep tonight, are you?" Pinako asked knowingly, hints of worry tugging at her features while she took her glasses off to wipe away smudges with her apron.

"I'll try," Winry let out a sigh, "but if not, I really hope this is my last night like this. It's crazy, I have a baby who actually sleeps and yet I'm the one who's up all night crying like I'm the baby." she sat down on the couch, bringing her knees to her chest, "I'm tired of it, Granny."

"I know, kid. I think once he gets here and recovers from the shock, you two will be able to fix things and continue on like a normal family." she encouraged.

"Yea, I hope. But what if he's mad? Or what if he blames himself for missing Lily's first year? I don't want him to feel that way and regret going because I know it's something he really wanted to do."

"The only way of knowing is to just tell him and help him through it." she said, heading down the hall to her bedroom while motioning for Winry to go up the stairs and try to get some sleep.

She wished she could, she knew she needed it. On the walk with Den, she felt like she could've fallen asleep when they took a break to sit next to the river, but now that she knew Ed would be here in the morning, she couldn't get her mind to stop racing.

She was happy, but at the same time she was terrified. She didn't know if there was a certain way for her to explain things to make Ed hurt any less, this had been such a heavy burden to carry the past year and a half and she hoped that burden wasn't about to grow any heavier.

Morning came in a few short hours and Winry couldn't stand laying in bed any longer, it was still early and Lily wasn't up yet, so she took advantage of the free time to quickly get herself ready for the day. Pinako insisted that she should wait outside for the brothers and told her she would take care of Lily once the baby girl woke up.

The last thing they wanted was for Ed and Al to walk through the door and see Winry with a baby that looks just like her and Edward and no explanation to go with it.

She took her coffee out to the front porch with her and sat down on the old porch swing, pushing her feet against the ground every now and then for a short swing. She had become all to comfortable with waiting, she decided, and she didn't like how familiar the feeling was.

After the night of the festival, Edward and Winry's relationship progressed rather quickly, but no one seemed to mind, especially not Pinako or Al. Ed and Winry both assumed that everyone felt the same way they did, there was just no need to wait or take things slow anymore. They both knew they loved each other basically their whole lives and when you're that sure of someone for that long, eighteen years is long enough to wait.

So they didn't.

Winry liked to call their first time making love a good learning expierence, to say the least. They were both very inexpierenced and even though they had already been doing things together since a week or two after they started dating, when it came to actual sex, they were both lost.

Despite the eagerness Edward so clearly had when they took that first step into full on adulthood, he was the most gentle and loving person Winry could have imagined, which made her love him and want him even more.

Once they found out what the other wanted from them while making love, Ed and Winry simply couldn't get enough of each other. He slept with Winry in her bed every night and they were almost inseperable during the day.

She had a small, but still unsure feeling that maybe she could be pregnant the entire month before Ed and Al got the letter from Ling, but of course, she didn't say anything. She didn't want to say anything unless she was positive. Her cycle was always irregular, so she never kept track of it and without the most obvious sign, morning sickness, she didn't know if there was a way of finding out for sure by the time Ed was set to leave.

So she kept it to herself.

To this day, she kicks herself for not sharing her thoughts with Ed. She should have at least told him what she was thinking and maybe when they knew for sure he could have just come home then? But then there was the annoying fact that communicating with one another while he was in a different country was next to impossible.

What's done is done, she kept telling herself that and hoped that Ed wouldn't hate her when she told him everything.

Her thoughts suddenly came to a hault when she saw the outline of two similar forms and a smaller, more feminine one heading toward the house. She knew it was them, so she stood up and ran to meet them halfway.

No going back, she knew she had to tell him now, before he went in the house, before his entire life changed.

Was it for better or worse?

She felt tears stinging her eyes when she finally found herself in his arms, he held her closely and ran his fingers through her hair while she looked over his shoulder to Al and the third person, who turned out to be May, (with Shao May lounging on her shoulder) and waved at them happily while returning Ed's warm embrace.

"I missed you so much."

"I missed you too." he whispered in her ear, "I'm a crazy man leaving you here for so long, I won't do it again, I promise Winry." he kissed her lovingly, but aware of their audience, he saved the rest of his affection for when they could be alone for a while.

Winry exchanged greetings with Al and May and moved to be next to Ed as they began to walk the rest of the way to the house.

"Al and the bean are together now." he muttered to Winry.

She laughed and shrugged, "I had a feeling that's what you were going to tell me. And don't call her that, she's a sweet girl and I think they're adorable."

Ed made a gagging noise while she glanced behind her to see May holding onto Al's arm as he pointed in all directions, telling her about his homeland and his childhood spent here.

Winry then stopped when they were just a mere ten feet from the front porch, forcing Edward to stop with her from holding her hand so tightly.

"I have to tell you something." she said to him, then looked over to Al. "It's something important and I don't mind if May hears it too because you're all about to find out anyway when we go inside."

The three exchanged confused looks and then focused their attention back on Winry, who was now standing a few inches further away from Edward, this had him more confused and now and he was starting to worry.

"Winry?" he tilted his head, reaching for her, but she was staring at the house wearing a look that none of them, not even Edward could read.

Al stepped forward, "What's wrong, Winry?" he asked, reaching out to try and comfort his best friend.

She swallowed hard and turned to face Ed, who was clearly lost, "I'm just gonna say it, there's no sugarcoating this." Her face brightened slightly when she found the courage to go on, "We have a baby. A baby girl."

_

_A/N: Revised as of 7/21/11. Thanks for reading. :)_  
_Credit to AnimeCookie for Liliane Sarah's beautiful name!_


	3. Simply Amazing

Edward was frozen.

It felt like his feet were bolted to the ground by nails and he couldn't bring them to move no matter how hard he told himself he wanted them to. He tore his gaze away from Winry to look at Al who was also wearing a look similar to his, but not one as pathetically shocking, Al looked more surprised, a happy surprise. He looked back to Winry who looked like she was holding back tears and paused once again. He tried to organize his thoughts correctly so he wouldn't make Winry cry, they had only been reunited for less than twenty minutes!

_A baby? Winry's baby?_

_**His** baby?_

He didn't know what to think at the moment. His mouth was so dry his tongue felt like a piece of leather and his knees felt like they could buckle any second if he kept standing still. He saw his brother's grin and Winry's weary smile, he saw May hug Winry and give her arm a friendly squeeze. He could see their mouths moving, but he couldn't really hear what they were saying. It looked like they must have been talking about him though because they all seemed to look his way at once and that's what snapped him back into reality.

"Don't you have anything to say, Brother?" Al asked, while giving a hesitant look to Winry. His silence was taking it's toll on her, she looked like she was about to burst into tears any moment. He took a deep breath and placed his hand on her shoulder, tracing his thumb along her collar bone.

"What's her name, Winry?" he asked her quietly, looking into her eyes hoping she could still read him well enough to know that he wasn't mad at her for something she couldn't help. He just knew that's what she was so worried about.

"Lily." she said hoarsely, then cleared her throat so the three of them could hear her better, "Lilianne Sara Elric."

Ed smiled and brought Winry to his chest and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. "I can't believe I left you and you were pregnant. What kind of boyfriend am I?" he paused, "Shit, I'm just like my old man aren't I?" He laughed at himself and shook his head.

"Ed!" Al cut in their conversation immediately, coming to stand next to his brother so he could look him in the eyes. "You had no idea Winry was pregnant! Don't blame yourself for leaving, I know you well enough to say that if you did find out she was pregnant before we left you would've stayed home with her."

"He's right Ed." Winry put in, "Please don't blame yourself, it's the last thing I want right now."

"Wh-Why didn't you write me? I would've been on the first train home had I known!"

"I did write," she hesitated, "more than once, and they all came back to the house weeks later."

He let out a breath of frustration and shook his head in disappointment. No matter how much Al and Winry said he shouldn't hold it against himself for missing the birth of his and Winry's first child, he still did.

"How old is she, Winry?"

"Almost a year, she'll be one on the twenty first."

Al smiled and looked over to Ed, "We'll be there for her first birthday, Brother!" He gave his older brother a pat on the back and looked back to Winry, " Is she walking yet?"

"Well she's an Elric!" She laughed lightly, "Of course she's walking already, she's practically running full time!"

Ed had to smile at that as he felt a streak of pride rush through him at the thought of his daughter running around the house and causing all kinds of chaos at such a young age, like he and Al did. He suddenly felt something tugging at his chest, like a burning need to go meet this baby girl that he helped Winry create. It was confusing, yet he knew what was happening to himself, he had Winry and his brother both next to him but he suddenly felt so empty. This new person in his life, he just had to go see her, he found it amazingly scary that he had no idea what she looked like, who she was like, who she was even, yet he just had this burning desire inside of him to go be with her. He found himself longing to cradle her in his arms and give her all his love that she had been missing out on for the first eleven months of her life.

His smile grew wider.

"Let's go inside already," he took Winry's hand in his and started heading for the Rockbell house, "I'm dying to meet her."

Winry smiled up at him as they made their way up to the house, hand in hand they were stepping into their new life together as parents. She almost felt whole again, but she knew she wouldn't feel complete until she finally saw Edward holding their baby girl, a meeting that's almost a year too late. She didn't know if the pain from the gap Edward left during Lily's first months would ever heal, it was probably one of the hardest things she's had to go through, along with losing her parents far too soon. She knew the pain would die down and dull over time, especially when they started making new memories as a new family, but she was sure it would always be there, she was just thankful, so thankful that Lily was too young to remember that her daddy couldn't be there in the beginning.

Pinako greeted the four young adults as they approached the front porch. Winry walked past her grandmother and headed straight to the kitchen to get some breakfast together and the three travelers said their greetings to the small woman, Edward already raising his voice at her after she made a comment about him 'not growing a single inch since he's been gone'.

"Pipe down, shrimp!" She wacked him with her pipe, "You'll wake the baby!"

Edward quieted and looked towards the upstairs bedrooms where Lily was most likely sleeping. He felt the warmness return to his chest as he wondered to himself which room was hers. He followed Al and May to the kitchen and slipped his arms around Winry from behind while she was pouring the freshly scrambled eggs and fried bacon onto a serving plate. She handed it to him and he turned around to sit it in the middle of the table and he was 'unlucky' enough to catch Al and May in the middle of a simple kiss. A simple peck or full on tongue fighting make out session, there was no difference when it came to his brother kissing the Xingese princess, they were both equally disgusting. Winry caught his scowling look as she came around to find her seat at the table and rolled her eyes at Ed, then motioned for him to come sit next to her so they could enjoy their first meal together after a year and six months.

Al and Pinako decided to give May a tour of the house so Ed and Winry could have a few minutes to themselves before going up to see Lily. He kept saying over and over that he was nervous and that he felt like he already owed the tiny girl a million apologies for not being there for her. Winry just smiled and kissed his lips lightly.

"There's nothing to be sorry about Edward, please don't apologize to her when she doesn't even know the meaning of the word sorry." She scooted closer to him on the small sofa that was in the Rockbell living room, she rested her head against his chest and took his hands in her own. "Give it a day or two and you two will be inseperable. She's so much like you Ed, she's so full of life and she's such a loving little girl. I'm so proud to be her mother, I can't wait for you to feel this too, it's the best thing in the world."

He smiled and hugged her tight, "Can we go up there yet? I'm ready to meet her!"

Winry laughed, "Well it's still about an hour before she usually wakes up, but I'm sure you won't mind giving her a nap an hour early later on."

"Are you kidding me? Of course not! She can sleep right here!" He pointed to his chest grinning brightly as they headed up the stairs. Winry's room was the first one on the right at the top of the stairs, so if they rounded the corner that meant that Lily's room was his and Al's old room. They rounded the corner and Ed smiled again, the room he wanted it to be.

"She's in here." She whispered to Ed. He nodded and placed his palm on her lower back as she opened the door. He was literally taking his first steps into fatherhood, he thought to himself ironically as he followed Winry to the small crib in the far corner of the old Elric room. He watched as Winry bent over and slowly scooped the small girl into her arms. Edward caught a glimpse of golden hair, messy from a nights worth of sleep, peeking over Winry's shoulder as the little girl rested her head against her mother's chest. He saw two tiny feet poking out from each side of Winry's waist as they tried to wrap themselves tightly around Winry for security. He couldn't help but grin from ear to ear as Winry turned around to face him with their daughter in her arms. She smiled and lead him over to the rocking chair that was in the other corner of the room. He went and stood by it, waiting for Winry to sit down, but she motioned for him to sit instead and he hesitantly obeyed. She placed the drowsy baby in his arms and helped position her to where she was comfortable.

It was amazing. Simply and utterly, _truly_ amazing.

It was his, she was his! His daughter, his baby girl.

He cautiously bent over to place a small kiss on the baby's cheek and whispered sweetly into her little ear, "Daddy's home, Lily."

_

_A/N: Typos revised as of 7/29/11. Thanks for your reviews, everyone. :) I will be gave chapters 1 and 2 facelifts since I wrote them both over a year ago, so it's there for you to re-read if you'd like._


	4. Baby Steps

Winry smiled down at the sight before her. Ed, still unsure of how to hold a baby, looked a little uncomfortable as Lily was starting to become more alert and awake and began to wiggle around in his arms. She looked up at her mommy and instantly smiled, Winry making a silly face back at her, then brought her attention to the unknown man who was currently holding her.

Ed nearly jumped when he saw his own golden eyes staring back at him.

These eyes were more rounded though, like Winry's, but the color was enough to send him in a whirl of emotions. Xerxes blood ran strong.

Her hair was also a pretty shade of gold, but not exactly like his own, and it had just a little more yellow to it than Winry's. She had a small, round nose, also like Winry, instead of his narrow, pointed one. Her little hands made Ed grin as she wrapped her index finger around his larger one and that was when his brain decided to bring science into all this, even the shape of her fingernails were the same shape as his. He just couldn't wrap his head around it. How does a baby take one thing from the mother and another from the father? And how does the mother's body know how to form the baby? Feed the baby? Protect the baby until it's ready to meet the world? How does the baby know when to come? It was just one thing that would never stop leaving him with questions; the science of the human body.

Sure, he understood all the basics, like your organs and the way your body reacts to sickness and medicines, but this science was something completely different. It was just on a whole different level than the rest.

And it was because alchemy can't mimic it.

So many different things are attainable through alchemy. Alchemy can heal the wounded, treat the sick. Alchemy can create buildings, or destroy them just as easily. But human reproduction was a certain science that couldn't be performed by clapping his hands.

He was a man of science, always will be. Winry always said it appealed to Ed because he and science were so much alike. He would always say science was simple, and if you really thought about it that was partially true, for every scientific problem, there was a solution. That's all it was to Ed, problems and formulas to solve the problems, the formulas were already given to you, you just had to know how to use them.

In Winry's perspective, Edward Elric was just as simple to her as science was to him, for every broken automail limb, there were her mechanics; for every time he had doubts about himself and his abilities, there was her smile and a few words of encouragement; and for everytime he awoke in the dead of night with a start, sweat dripping from his forehead, and his mind racing with images of what he saw on "that night", there was Winry reaching over and taking him in her arms, whispering to him that everything was alright as she kissed his cheek.

If you're an outsider looking in, like Winry, science is a lot more complex than that, with all the many different formulas to choose from that will help you get from the problem to the solution, it was never really her thing. But the one science that left the great Fullmetal Alchemist scratching his head for hours on end was the only science Winry would ever have the upperhand on the young genius. The science of reproduction and childbirth, even the babies themselves, was what always seemed to leave him in a stump.

"What's going on in that head?" She could almost see what he was thinking as he readjusted the little girl on his good knee. He smiled at Lily when she again looked up at him, still unsure of whether she liked this strange man or not.

"That I have no idea what I'm doing." He almost wanted to laugh at himself, as he tried bouncing Lily on his knee, he could tell she was starting to get uncomfortable the more she kept moving around and glancing up at Winry to make sure she didn't leave their side.

"It takes time, Ed. I had to learn too, you know, and it was when she was even smaller than that, which made it a lot harder, I felt like I would break her if I jostled her too much or picked her up too fast." She bent down to pick up the baby when she started to reach for Winry nervously, "She needs to get used to you just as much as you need to get used to her, she's learning too, just keep that in mind. Don't let her intimidate you too much, she can tell when you're nervous or upset." She said gently, taking Lily over to the changing table to put a fresh diaper and some day clothes on her.

Ed watched how Lily and Winry interacted with eachother from his seat in the corner, motherhood fit Winry well, he always knew it would, and he couldn't have picked a more perfect woman to be the mother of his children. The fact of having a family with his best friend, his first and only love, just made it official that they were family, they both knew that even before Lily they were already a family. He got up from his chair to go join them on the floor where Winry spread a few toys out for the little girl to play with.

"Can Daddy play with you, Lily?" Winry asked sweetly and Lily only eyed Ed while he slowly sat down beside them.

"She's just staring at me!" He almost wanted to laugh, the only other person who could give him such an intense staredown was Winry. Must be where she got it from. "She looks so much like you Winry, even though her hair and eyes are the same as mine, I see so much of you in her." He pecked Winry on the cheek and stretched out to lay on his stomach so he could be more on Lily's level. "Can I play with this?" He asked her while holding one of her toys in his hands. She continued starting at Ed and held tightly onto the toy that she had already claimed. "Why won't she smile or laugh at me? Does she talk yet?" He asked anxiously, he just wanted her to like him!

"Ed, calm down. Remember what I said about being nervous around her? Just relax, she's only known you for five minutes!" she scooted closer to him and placed her hand on his back, rubbing it gently. "Just give it a few days, I promise you two will click, there's no way you can't, you're way too much alike not to."

"Okay" He tried to calm down and focused his attention back on his daughter. He couldn't wait til she warmed up to him a little more.

"Are you ready to go meet Uncle Al and Aunt May?" Winry asked the baby exicitedly. Lily's face brightened when she heard her mother talking happily to her and she got up and walked over to Winry and plopped down in her lap.

"Don't call that bean girl my daughter's _Aunt_!" He spat.

"Don't _yell_ at me in front of our daughter!" She pinched the side of his arm harder and harder until he plead for mercy.

"Woman! Don't _abuse_ me in front of the baby!" He yelled once again.

"Just hush! Let's go downstars so she can meet Uncle Al and her _soon to be_ Aunt May." She got up and coaxed the baby into following her out of the bedroom, "Come on Lily!"

"Winry! That doesn't make it any less nauseating!" He jumped up and followed them out of the bedroom and down into the living room of the Rockbell house

Al and May were waiting for them on the couch and Pinako in her old chair, smoking her pipe. Al stood up when he saw Ed and Winry, with Lily in Winry's arms, coming down the stars to meet them.

"Oh my-" He cut himself off as they got closer to him and he got a better look at the girl in Winry's arms. "Hi, Lily." He said softly, giving her arm a light squeeze, and Lily nestled her head deeper into the crook of Winry's neck in response. "Aw she's so cute, Winry!"

"Don't let the shyness deceive you, she's just like Ed when he was younger, she gets into everything!"

Al placed a firm hand on his brother's shoulder, "She's beautiful Ed."

"I know." He smiled in their direction as Winry took Lily over to meet May and say good morning to her great-grandmother.

"I'm gonna go make some cereal for Lily, Ed. Why don't you and Al spend some alone time with her?" She suggested as she headed into the kitchen.

"Welcome to fatherhood, shrimp." Pinako said lovingly, short comment included. She gave Lily to Edward and went to make herself another cup of coffee.

Ed smiled at his daughter and patted her back lightly, "Daddy's turn again!" He tried not to sound nervous, keeping Winry's advice in the back of his mind.

"How does it feel to be a father, Ed?" Al asked his brother while going another round of baby talking with Lily.

How _does_ it feel? He asked himself that and a hundred different feelings fell down on him all at one.

It felt amazing, to say the least, he couldn't help but feel this unbreakable bond with this tiny girl that was purely his and Winry's. Before he and Al returned home after getting Al's body back, he never thought he would make it this far in life. At the age of sixteen he had settled with the fact that he may never even make it to his twenties, his quest and all the things he and Al ended up getting caught up in were just too dangerous.

It also horrified Ed to no end, simply because he and Al never really had much of a father figure in their lives. He didn't know how to act or how to handle a baby, this was all new and scary. He didn't want to abandon Lily by any means, but didn't that run in his blood? His own father left his mother, Al, and him when they were just boys, and he didn't see the man again until he was sixteen years old, years too late. He had so much hatered towards the situation his father had been in. Had it been a few years ago, Ed would say the hatred was for Hohenheim alone, but now that he was older and heard his father's story, it was almost possible that maybe someday, he could forgive the man for leaving his family. He didn't want to ever, ever leave his baby girl, or Winry for that matter, but the thought of him being so much like his father already, physically and even tempermentally, scared him.

He decided the only thing that could keep him from his daughter and Winry was his grave and that was it. There's no way in hell he was going to end up like his father, he would break the cycle himself and raise a damn good family.

He looked back down at his daughter, Lily finally decided she was a little more comfortable with Edward and she was resting her head against his chest. He grinned and looked back to his brother, "It feels great, Al. I never thought I could feel this happy."

_A/N: Haha, whenever my daughter's uncomfortable around people she acts just like that! Thanks everyone for reviewing my last chapter, it was nice to see people didn't completely forget about this story._


	5. Learning Curve

Winry shut the bedroom door behind her and tip toed to her bed, snuggling herself deep into the covers and nestling her nose into the crook of Edward's neck. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her tightly, it had been a long, but exciting day nonetheless, but he was _exhausted_, mentally and physically. Traveling home from the East, finding out he was a father, then meeting Lily and learning all about her in one day was a lot to pack into twenty four hours. He tilted his head so he could smell her hair, it felt good to be home and it felt even better to be laying in bed with her again, he had missed it so much.

"Ed?"

"Mm?"

"What are you thinking about?" She asked quietly.

He was silent for a few seconds then let out a sigh, "It feels great to be home," he paused and rubbed her back softly, "But you know Al and I are gonna have to go to Central for a while, I don't know how long, but we have to report to Mustang in about a week or two."

She didn't react right away, she knew that's what was on his mind, she knew he wasn't going to be staying home for long. She really just wanted to know how much time she had with him before he had to leave her again.

"I won't be gone as long as I was in Xing, Winry."

"I know," she whispered, "I'm just so tired of waiting."

He pulled her closer to him so he could kiss her neck, "I know you are, but it's something we have to do. We won't leave until after Lily's birthday so that gives us a good two weeks together and then when we leave, Al and I will be back before you know it."

"Alright." she wondered if Ed and Al would ever be able to stay home for more than a few years at a time, she knew deep down that they weren't the type to stay settled for long.

"Now," he began, his voice thick with want for her. He rolled over on top of her and kissed her lovingly, "Let's just forget about everything for right now and let me show you how much I really missed you, since you think it's so easy for me to leave you."

Winry chuckled and wrapped her arms around him, "Go right ahead."

Ed awoke in the dead of night with a start, what was that sound? He turned to Winry who was still soundly sleeping and then looked to the door of the bedroom, it was Lily. Winry started stirring after the baby let out another loud cry and Ed leaned in and kissed her softly when she went to get out of bed, "Go back to sleep," he whispered, "I can take care of her."

She squinted her eyes to try and see his face in the dark, "You sure?"

"Yes," he reassured, "You've been up in the middle of the night with her for the past year, it's my turn now." Winry didn't argue with him and laid back down, pulling the covers over her bare shoulders.

"Alright, thanks Ed."

He quietly entered the baby's room and found her crying in her crib, he lowered the rail and bent down to scoop her up in his arms. "What's the matter, Lily?" he cooed, "Bad dream?" he went over to the wooden rocking chair and began to rock her back to sleep, "I know how you feel," he sympathized, looking down at the sweet baby who was a perfect mixture of him and Winry. She looked up at her Daddy in awe, and snuggled into him. Ed felt his heart swell in his chest, what an amazing feeling to be holding your own child! He thought he would never be able to experience this.

Just then, the most horendous smell made itself known to his senses and threatened his stomach to reaquaint him with his last meal. "What the hell is that smell?" he questioned, looking down at the baby who was finally starting to drift back to sleep. He got up from the rocker and placed Lily on the changing table, who was unhappy about being removed from her daddy's warm arms. Ed slowly opened one side of the diaper and peeked inside to see just what he was up against. The smell instantly intensified and he nearly choked on it, he swore he could taste it in his mouth.

He quickly wrapped the one side of the cloth diaper back in it's place and picked her back up, he knew he couldn't leave her like this, but there's no way in hell he could change that disaster himeself! He panicked for a second, pacing around the room, he didn't want to go in and wake Winry up after he assured her he had everything under control and she really did need a good night's sleep.

He stopped in his tracks and suddenly bolted to the hallway, Lily in his arms, Al could help him! He would know what to do! He was always the more nurturing and kid friendly of the two of them. He rushed down the stairs to the patient room his brother and May were staying in, opening the door slowly, he readjusted his baby girl in his arms and braved the dark room, hoping he wouldn't have to see the unsightly image of his little brother and the bean girl snuggling in bed together. To his pleasant surprise, they were each in their own cot and sleeping soundly, Ed rushed over to his brother and kneeled down by his bedside, poking his shoulder a few times causing him to roll over in his sleep. Ed huffed and looked to Lily, who was waiting patiently on her daddy's knee "We need to wake up Uncle Al!" he whispered to the little girl and she grinned happily at Ed and reached for his face. He kissed Lily's chubby hand and went back to his mission: awakening the most impossible person to wake in the middle of the night. Ever since Al got his body back and was able to sleep, sleep became the most precious thing to the younger Elric.

"Al," he poked his brother once again, "Alphonse!" he said with a little more volume than he meant to and he heard May starting to stir from behind him. One more try, he thought to himself, "Al, wake up I need your help!" he shook Al's shoulder roughly and felt a huge wave of relief when his brother finally awoke.

"Brother, what's wrong with you?" Al questioned drowsily, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"This." Ed held Lily's rear end near Al's face and almost died of laughter when his brother began coughing.

"That's not even right, Ed!" he cleared his throat and smiled at Lily, "Did you make a mess? Huh?" he asked the baby. "What's the matter? Can't change a diaper?" he poked Ed back in amusement.

"Can to! I changed three yesterday! Just no...messy ones." he said defeatedly, "I need your help, I don't want to wake Winry up, she's really tired and I promised her I could take care of Lily tonight." he pleaded.

Al sighed and kicked the covers off, "Alright, I'm getting up."

Ed and Lily went back up to her bedroom with Al following them, Ed put Lily back on the changing table and took her pajama bottoms back off, exposing the problem at hand. "Well, go ahead." Al encouraged from behind Ed.

Ed whipped around and waved his hands in defeat, "No way! We're in this together!"

"I'm here for moral support, Ed." he was holding back a laugh, "You can do this!"

Betrayed by his brother, Ed focused his attention back on Lily, who was waiting patiently and staring up at him. He undid the diaper and was once again slapped in the face by the fowl smell. He had no idea what the hell he was doing.

"Al, a wipe!" he demanded, grabbing the wet cloth from his brother and wiping away as much of the problem as possible, "Another!" he reached for another one and before Alphonse could even begin to reach for one more, Ed was already holding his hand open for a third wipe.

Five wipes down, Ed reached for one more himself and went over the area one last time, "You're so wasteful!" Al remarked, still looking over Ed's shoulder, "You didn't even need those last two!"

"Bull!" Ed snapped, whipping his head around, "You can never be too clean, especially under these circumstances!"

"Oh, Brother..." Al rolled his eyes and reached for Lily when Ed was finished putting a clean diaper on her, "You ready to go back to sleep?" he asked her, cradling her in his arms and rocking her softly. He gave the little girl a kiss and handed the baby back to Ed and began to head back downstairs.

"Hey, Al! Don't tell Winry!" Ed whispered, cupping his free hand around his mouth to be sure his brother could hear him.

Al laughed to himself, "Whatever you say, Ed." and headed downstairs to finish sleeping.

Edward snuck back into Winry's room and carefully shut the door, an hour later, Lily was finally cleaned up and back to sleep. He felt accomplished and proud of himself for what he had just done. Settling himself under the covers, he snaked his arm around her waist and hugged her close, she felt so good next to him, like her body was made to lay next to his and his to hers. Winry stirred a little and yawned, readjusting herself in Ed's arms.

"Thanks, Ed." she brought his hand up to her mouth and kissed it softly.

"No problem." he kissed the back of her neck and nuzzled his nose into her hair, reaquainting himself with her wonderful scent again.

"And Ed," she began, looking over her shoulder.

"Mn-what?"

"You better thank your brother in the morning."

Busted.

_A/N: Haha, and the pride of Edward Elric is shot down yet again! Thanks for reading everyone! Be sure to check out my new story, Life As They Know It. It's an AU EdWin._


End file.
